Thanks to Aimofdestiny for the beta.
"Hell, that hurts!" Claudia whined and tried to reach for her forehead, but Helena slapped her hand away. The caretaker's other one was resting in her lap, bandaged. "Don't touch it, Claudia."
They were in the hospital in Pierce. Myka had had the idea to call Mrs. Frederic when they found Claudia unconscious in the forest. The former caretaker had sent an emergency helicopter to bring them to the town which usually would take two hours to reach from Univille, HG had kept them company, while Myka had followed them by car. A helicopter ride had been incredibly interesting for the Victorian, apart from the fact that her friends had been injured.
Now, the writer sat between Claudia's and Steve's beds in their shared room. Somebody had allowed them a room together, probably because the redhead had been demanding it since she had woken up in the helicopter.
Helena was really asking herself what the caretaker and... the girl had been facing. The stranger who had stolen Steve's car was gone and they hadn't found him yet.
"I feel like somebody hit me with something big!" Claudia groaned and reached out for the bandage on her head again. HG again slapped her hand away another time. "Claudia!"
"Agent Wells, I'm capable of deciding if I want to touch my forehead or not!" The caretaker ranted at her. The writer glared at her, eyes narrowed. "Don't pull the caretaker card on me, Claudia. Currently, you're just a girl with an injury in a hospital bed."
The redhead groaned. "I really want to know what happened."
Steve who lay in the other bed sighed. "Don't we all?" His shoulder had been dislocated and now he had to keep his arm in a sling. This was in addition to the bandage on his other arm and the one on his forehead.
"This memory loss is unsettling."
"I know." Helena replied. "But it comes with the time travel." Pursing her lips, she shook her head. She still hadn't adjusted to the sudden wave of memory that had come over her when she had faced Steve, whose body had been inhabited by her future daughter. HG had remembered Sarah the moment she had seen that scar on his face that hadn't actually been there. And then those green eyes... She had remembered the day in Boone that had never happened. It was linked to Myka's time travel, the watch the girl had used to try to rescue her mother. Everything in which the Victorian had been involved that day had come back to her mind, including the information about the future the older Myka and Sarah had given Helena back then. The kiss she had shared with the younger agent that day... HG squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn't what she wanted to know. And she wanted to be able to explore whatever future was waiting for her on her own. And now...
Myka and Helena had been quiet with each other while they had waited for the helicopter to bring their friends into the hospital. But the Victorian needed to talk with her love when they would finally have the chance.
"Tell me, Claudia." Steve grunted. "What do you remember?"
"Well, the last thing I know is... doing artifact research with you all night. I think I might have fallen asleep in my chair." Claudia admitted.
"Well, yes, we both fell asleep over the research. We woke up the next morning and cleaned up Artie's office. I was sweeping up crumbs and then... everything's gone." Steve shrugged and then groaned loudly, grabbing his dislocated shoulder with his good arm.
"Well, your memory loss is connected to the fact that somebody took over your body with my time machine." Helena pointed out quietly. "While Claudia has a bad head injury and has been shot with a Tesla that was turned up too high... apparently. It seems that the person who was... in Steve's body worked together with Claudia. We talked when Myka and I were in New York and it seems you two did artifact research."
"Gosh." Claudia scrunched her nose at HG's words. "I wish I could remember. Who was this time traveller?"
Wringing her hands, the Victorian looked into her eyes. "Sarah." She whispered.
Claudia looked shocked. "You mean... that kid from the future?"
The other woman offered her a small nod. Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"She exists?" The caretaker's jaw dropped.
"I don't know!" Helena struggled for words. Because currently, Sarah's existence was something she had no mind for. Even though her mind was demanding to know if she was well and successful fighting whatever she would be facing in the future.
"Wait, you know who she is?" Claudia's eyebrows furrowed and she regarded the Victorian carefully. HG took a deep breath and looked at her.
"The moment we found Jinksy- " Helena looked at her partner, who frowned at her, "and I looked into his eyes... it was like I saw a scar on his face... in this moment I remembered the watch, the undone day in Boone... and yes... Sarah. I recognised her." She murmured, dropping her gaze to the ground. Steve looked utterly confused at this, but Claudia just nodded in understanding. Jinksy hadn't complained about his shoulder or his injuries. He seemed to be too tired or confused about this. But he had been looking as if he had a lot to process ever since he had woken up.
"Have you talked to Myka?" The caretaker asked excitedly.
"About that? Not yet."
"But about other things?" Claudia cautiously breached the topic. It seemed she was struggling to keep an innocent tone of voice. The Victorian looked up at her.
"Perhaps." She smirked.
"Aha!" The caretaker sat up in bed quickly and pointed her finger at her. Then she groaned and fell back on her pillow. "Aha!" She whispered weakly. "What did you talk about?"
"We were together on artifact hunt for one and a half days, Claudia. There was a lot." The artificer's eyes darted to the door. In the hall, Myka was busy with her telephone.
"Was there kissing and making out?" Claudia demanded to know.
Steve groaned: "Claudia! That's none of your business!" HG waved her hand in dismissal of his words.
"Perhaps." She answered the girl's question.
The door opened, admitting Abigail and Adelaide into the room. The former therapist looked concernedly at the caretaker and the agent in the beds before greeting them. Meanwhile, Adelaide jumped through the room into Helena's arms. "Agent Bering looks furious with her telephone, maybe you should walk outside and kiss her to calm her down." She suggested while hugging the Victorian. Claudia again jolted upright in bed. "Aha!" Again, this action seemed to be rewarded with pain, which made her fall back on her pillow for another time, groaning.
"So this means you are a couple?" She whispered weakly.
"We have agreed on using that term, yes." The Victorian bowed her head at Claudia and absent-mindedly carressed Adelaide's blonde hair.
"Good, then you just have to figure this sudden attack of memories out and then you should make out with each other a little bit more." Claudia pointed out.
"Not your business, Claudia!" Steve warned.
"I'm the caretaker of this house of madness and everyone inside it, Steve. Of course it is my business. The well-being of every agent is my business and Myka and Helena have to be well with each other a lot!" The caretaker gave back. Abigail giggled quietly. "I thought it was my job to-"
The door opened once again and Myka walked inside. She put her mobile phone away and huffed.
"Okay: Good news and bad news. What do you want first?" She looked at Claudia and Steve.
"Bad news?" Steve suggested.
"Well, the guy that stole your car is completely gone. Vanished. I talked to the guy who runs the delivery service because I thought that they might have a connection and he just demanded to talk to his lawyer." Myka pursed her lips. "And he was very rude. Maybe because his truck is a wreck now. I don't think we'll be getting much information from him. He seems to be covering for whoever was involved in this."
"And the good news?" Claudia looked disappointed. Myka smiled weakly in reaction.
"Well, the good news is for Steve. The police found the Prius."
"Yes!" Steve cheered but then again held his shoulder in pain.
"Empty," Myka added, "with no trace of the person who stole it. It's clean. There aren't even any finger prints left."
"Crap!" Claudia exclaimed. "No step nearer to the resolution about what happened."
"Well," Abigail shrugged. "If it needs somebody to travel back in time to solve it..."
Helena closed her eyes and slightly shook her head. Opening them again, she met Myka's gaze.
"Can we maybe talk in private?" The other agent asked carefully. HG nodded and rose from her chair.
Myka knew what the words she had heard from Helena meant. The fact that Steve had mentioned a time machine and that Helena had adressed him as "Sarah" left only one conclusion. But it was still incredibly different to understand the fact that Sarah had travelled through time again and to see Helena actually adress Steve as her future daughter. The American couldn't explain what this meant at all.
"Okay." Myka closed the door of Steve's and Claudia's hospital room behind them. She looked carefully at Helena. "What happened? I... it's confusing that you suddenly adressed Steve as Sarah. Somebody you didn't want to talk about."
"Apparently." HG sighed and paused for a brief moment. "Apparently, this girl travelled back in time to hunt an artifact."
"And how do you know that?" The younger agent didn't understand. It all had happened so suddenly and then they had had to bring Steve and Claudia to the hospital. Myka and Helena had had no time to have a clear talk about this.
"Because I remember the day in Boone." Helena replied weakly and looked up into her eyes. The American just gaped at her in reaction to this revelation.
"When I looked into Steve's eyes - Steve, who was inhabited by ...her - and touched her scar... I mean ... I saw that scar and her eyes even though they weren't really there. And in that moment I remembered everything. Look, I've reacted so strangely to touching your scar. ...it's hard to explain Myka." The writer raked her hand through her hair, looking frustrated.
Myka nodded in reaction, then she closed the gap between them to take her into her arms. Carefully, she kissed the inventor's temple. Then, she looked down into her glistening brown eyes. "Try." She whispered. "I will listen, no matter how strange it sounds. Everything connected to this time travel thing sounds strange, doesn't it?"
"Well, judging from everything I now know about that day... I'd say there is a connection between the watch and us... I don't know. Your future version... god, that sounds so peculiar to say... your future version behaved curiously in reaction to facing the watch the girl brought back then. And I didn't feel well myself. Dizzy, nauseous. Like back in the shower." She offered Myka a shy smile. "And maybe this combination of seeing your scar and ...Sarah in our time caused me to react that strangely, to help her face whatever she was fighting." Now, Helena looked up into the younger woman's eyes. "I haven't been completely honest with you and I'm sorry."
Myka slightly frowned but then shook her head. "What do you mean?"
"My dreams. I told you about my nightmares. Christina, you, and Adelaide are in them? Well, I remained silent who else I was seeing in them. Since Boone, there has been another person showing up in my dreams." Helena whispered, her eyes slowly filling with tears. "Sarah." Her gaze dropped to the ground.
"You mean that you maybe subconsciously remembered her after the events in Boone? ...which never really happened?" Myka summarised. She reached out her hand to gently cup Helena's cheek, making the Victorian wince. She didn't want to let this be a problem between them. Neither of them was responsible for what that damn watch was doing in their lives. It was just happening and they couldn't change it.
"I couldn't explain it to myself, because I'd never seen her face. Which is actually true. I've never seen her face and still I do remember it. That's just odd. She's my daughter even though she doesn't exist. I care for her even though I've never met her and I don't know if I ever will, Myka!" Helena's voice got louder. "It's... I'm not ready to face anything that leads to her existence and still I do care about her. I have to know if she's alright! I gnaws at me. Did you listen to her words? She was fighting something, somebody... I don't know. It sounded like she was talking to somebody only she could hear. What if something bad happens to her in the future? I cannot start worrying for her considering the fact that she simply doesn't exist." Helena escaped the younger woman's arms. "That's... I don't know how to deal with this."
Myka surveyed HG from behind. The Victorian had turned away from her. She shivered and the younger woman couldn't help but want to comfort her. This really wasn't what she had imagined would happen. How could Helena recover properly from the loss of Christina, while worrying about somebody who didn't exist? Maybe would never exist? Myka had promised to herself that she wanted to have a future with Helena, a future where they could be comfortable with each other and not lose their heads about responsibilities like children... so soon. A future in which Helena could recover from her loss. And this situation clearly wasn't helping the Victorian with her recovery. Carefully, the American reached out a hand and placed it on the older woman's shoulder.
"Helena, I want to help you." She whispered.
"I don't know if you can, Myka. I don't know if there even is something that needs help. It's just so confusing." Helena replied and turned around to face her. "I wish I could just know if she's alright."
"Maybe." Mrs. Frederic suddenly said next to them. Both agents jumped; a small yelp escaped from Myka's lips. "I can help you out with that."
"Mrs. Frederic!" The curly haired woman grunted. "Are you still able to teleport? I thought now that Claudia annoys us with that, you cannot..." She paused.
"No." Irene replied and firmly surveyed HG. "I'm just a very quiet walker."
So the next three chapters are set in the future. I hope you're alright with that. But don't worry, there's indeed Bering and Wells in them. :)